Demolition underway of former F.P. Horak building in Bay City for Uptown development

BAY CITY, MI - Drivers crossing Veterans Memorial Bridge in downtown Bay City might notice more than just the orange barrels from ongoing bridge repair. The former F.P. Horak building on the east side of the river near the bridge currently is being demolished as well.

The building was home to a Sears store early in its life before printing and marketing company F.P. Horak took up residence there. F.P. Horak stopped using the building in 2017.

The empty building and property was purchased by Shaheen Development of Saginaw as a part of a plan to connect the Uptown Bay City development to downtown Bay City.

The Bay City Planning Commission approved the site plan for phase 2 of Uptown at a meeting in March. The plan includes 19 acres of new residential, commercial and mixed-use buildings — or roughly 200,000 square feet in total. The demolition of the F.P. Horak building is part of the overall Uptown phase 2 development plan.

Midland demolition company Bierlein is handling the removal of the building. The demolition is being done with a focus on recycling the old materials from the steel, masonry, and concrete building.

“We’ll recycle as much as we can,” Project Supervisor David Terrian said.

A six-man crew is working on taking the building down. The crew started on Tuesday, July 9, and has been busy ever since with plans to be done by the end of the month. Terrian said Thursday that the weather has so far been cooperative for the project.

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